Wednesday, June 09, 2010

1953 Ohio Tornado Photos

It was back in 1953, June 8th to be exact, that another tornado outbreak occurred in Ohio and Michigan which killed many people. Here are two photos of the tornado from different locations. The first was taken at Hopkins Airport. The second was taken in Wood county; the same county where last weekend's tornado resulted in many fatalities.

Tornado warnings didn't exist in 1953. In fact, it was illegal to mention the word "tornado" prior to World War II. The tornado pictured below was an F4 with winds of over 260 miles per hour. The tornado touched down in Birmingham, Ohio around 8:30PM and continued east.

It approached Hopkins Airport and continued into the western suburbs. Damage was reported from West 130th to West 117th and Bellaire where 100 homes were leveled. The tornado was around a 1/2 mile wide as it approached West 45th street around 10PM. Damage from West 28th to West 25th and Detroit was incredibly severe. Five people were killed in one home at Franklin Circle. The tornado, now retreating back into the cloud, passed directly over Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland. The funnel cloud moved out over Lake Erie at East 40th street and fell apart. A total of 18 deaths were reported across Ohio on June 8th.

An interesting footnote on the tornado outbreak: Many thought that the tornado outbreak resulted from the atomic testing in Nevada. A congressional investigation was pushed but never materialized. Photos and material credit: Dick Goddard